ART & EXHIBITIONS LIST
THE PESSIMISM OF THE FIESTA
Glasgow Print Studio
Someone mentioned the word Columbian when referring to McCulloch's colour. Just right. The initial impact of his large paintings is that of fiesta. Latln meets Aztec. It seems there is cause for celebration in his rainbow spectrum.
But second sight turns McCulloch’s coiourdark, almost oppressive. There is a claustrophobla among the hosts and plagues of figures and animals twisting in and out of the tree of life with athletic virtuosity. His circus ring becomes a frenzied life cycle.
Since his paintings first claimed some of the attention that was being handed out to Scottish painting in the earlier eighties (he won the Stirling Smith Biennial in 1985, the year of the New Glasgow Image exhibition at Third Eye Centre, Glasgow) McCulloch has unrepentantly borrowed from the Bible
available for £6.
I COMPASS GALLERY 178 West Regent Street, 221 6370. Mon—Sat 10am—5.30pm. James Gibson Until 2 Mar. Studying art history and teaching English for some years led Gibson to become an artist in his own right. Self-taught, he has shown regularly since he started his new career in 1978. This is the second time he has shown with the Compass.
I CYRIL GERBER FINE ART 148 West Regent Street, 221 3095. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5.30pm; Sat 9.30am— 12.30pm. Winter Collection A selection of fine art by Redpath, McTaggart, Colquhoun. Spencer.
I EWAN MUNOY FINE ART 48 West George Street, 331 2406. Mon-Sat l()am—5.30pm. 20th century British paintings including Glasgow School and Scottish Colourists. Prints and drawings from their London exhibition.
I FINE ART SOCIETY 134 Blythswood Street. 332 4027. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5.30pm; Sat 10am—1pm.
19th and 20th century paintings.
I GATEHOUSE GALLERY Rouken Glen Road (gallery at entrance to Butterfly
Closed Tue.
New painting selection by Scottish artists for February. David Toner, Michael Scott, Matt McCurdy. Sandy Murphy and others.
I GLASGOW ARTS CENTRE 12 Washington Street, 221 4526. Mon—Fri 10am—8pm; Sat 10—3pm.
I GLASGOW PRINT STUOIO 22 King Street. 552 0704. Mon—Sat “lam—5.30pm.
Ian McCulloch - Paintings and Prints ’85-'09 Until 28 February. One ofScotland‘s
Kingdom). 620 0235. Daily 11.30—5.30pm;
and mythology to lend mighty narrative to his work. Adam and Eve are still with us—thls time he places the pair in a long painting commissioned by the makers of the ltalian Centre due to open in Glasgow’s Ingram Street later this year. But where the Bible is said to give us hope, McCulloch rarely offers doses of brightly coloured pessimism. The paintings are flat, and unlike the Gothic art of Bosch who spun a16th century nightmare, their legends lie on the surface, like cartoons with a psychedelic flair.
While the paintings are unrestful and busy, it is possible to turn for refreshment to McCulloch’s woodcuts and monoprints which isolate smaller scenes into more clearly digestible images. St Francis of the birds is magical and one monotype has an almost Chinese reverence to the medium - blue and orange to one side make up the legend while a man strains under the weight of a dragon with infinite wings.(Alice Bain)
leading painters shows in Glasgow for the first time in 15 years. Prints and oils.
Talk Ian McCulloch will talk about his work on 15 Feb at 7.30pm and at the School of Architecture. University of Strathclyde on 16 Feb at 1pm. Free.
I HAGGS CASTLE 100 St Andrews Drive . Mon—Sat 10am—5pm; Sun 2—5pm. Glasgow‘s museum for children.
The Desperate Journey Until April. The story ofa Highland family. evicted from their home during the Clearances and forced to make the long journey to the New World. Based on the book by Kathleen Fidier.
I HARBINGERS 417 Great Western Road, 3399999. Mon—Sat 10am—6pm. Harbingers will not have a special exhibition but will still be open for the sale of good design. Next exhibition opens end March.
I HUNTERIAN ART GALLERY University of Glasgow, 82 Hilihead Street. 3305431. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5pm; Sat 9.30am— 1 pm. From McTaggart to Eardley Until 15 April. A winter showing of the gallery‘s collection of Scottish watercolours including work by Glasgow Boys and Scottish Colourists.
The Mackintosh House Gallery: Open as above but closed for lunch 12.30—1.30pm. 50p admission on weekday afternoons and Saturdays. A reconstruction ofthe architect's home fitted with original furniture.
Mackintosh Cabinet Design Until 15 April. From simple stained pieces made in the mid-1890s to elaborately decorated white cabinets, this exhibition of twenty designs provides a representative survey of Mackintosh‘s work in this field.
I HUNTERIAN MUSEUM The University of Glasgow, 339 8855. Mon-Fri 9.30am—5pm; Sat 9.30am—1pm. Closed 24 Dec—4 Jan.
My Life in Miniature Until 1 April. An exhibition of wood carvings by Justus Akeredolu, a distinguished teacher of carving.
I lMAGES GALLERY 74 Hyndland Road. 334 5311. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5.30pm. No exhibition at present but general stock includes 18th and 19th century Japanese woodblock prints and 19th and 20th century etchings, watercolours and oils. I INTEROEC GALLERY Maryhill Burgh Ha11,24 Gairbraid Ave. 9465912.
Batik by Godfrey Banadda and Palestinian Crafts Until 18 Feb. Work by a well-known African artist as well as craft from the Middle East.
I JOHN GREEN FINE ART 203 Bath Street. 221 6025. Mon-Fri 10am—5pm; Sat 10am—1pm.
19th & 20th century continental oils and watercolours.
I LILLIE ART GALLERY Station Road. Milngavie, 956 2351 . Tue-Fri 11am—5pm and 7—9pm; Sat and Sun 2—5pm. Closed Mondays.
Pam Carter 18 Feb—12 Mar. Paintings.
I MAIN FINE ART Michael Main Gallery and The Studio Gallery, 16 and 34 Gibson Street. Both galleries on 334 8858 and open Mon—Sat 9.30—5.30.
The new Main concern is now officially open with paintings by Lesley Main. sister of gallery owner Michael Main, and other Scottish contemporaries. This cream- coioured gallery. converted from an old Victorian Chemist‘s shop. is looking quite beautiful and is a welcome addition to the West End.
I 908 GALLERY l2 Otago Street, 339 3158. Mon—Sat 10am—6pm.
Campbell Smith and invited Artists Until 24 Feb. About 20 painters show with ceramicists, with a special selection of pastels by Campbell Smith.
I PEOPLE'S PALACE MUSEUM Glasgow Green, 554 0223. Mon-Sat lOam—Spm; Sun l—Spm. Glasgow‘s museum of working life. Now in its 90th year, the museum is currently undergoing essential repairs and refurbishment which will last throughout the year.
Stained Glass Gallery Permanent gallery of secular and religious stained glass which acknowledges Glasgow’s impressive history in the field.
Bust of Willie Gailacher On 31 Jan, 1919 one of the most important events in the history of the Scottish Labour Movement took place. Thousands of workers demonstrated for a 40 hour week and shop steward Willie Gallacher was arrested. Eventually chairman of the Communist Party in Britain, Gallacher worked to improve the living conditions ofpeople for the rest of his life. This bust, by lan Walters, joins the People‘s Palace parade of personalities which includes Keir Hardie, Jimmy Maxton and John Wheatley.
I POLLOK HOUSE 2060 Pollokshaws Road,
6320274. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm. Sun 1—5pm. Neighbour to the Burrell Collection, this 18th century house contains the Stirling Maxwell Collection of Spanish paintings and period furnishings.
I SPRINGBURN MUSEUM Ayr Street (adjacent to Springburn Railway Station). 557 1405. Mon—Fri 10.30am—5pm; Sat 10am—4pm; Sun 2—5pm.
Sculpture at Springburn Following Rona McNicol, artist-in-residence, Springburn move into this month with more sculptural offerings. ‘Heritage and Hope — Springburn 1989‘, a bronze group by the Edinburgh artist Vincent Butler, hasjust been unveiled in Atlas Square, and an exhibition describing its making is currently being shown in the museum. Artists from Glasgow Sculpture Studios (who have successfully maintained a high public profile since they opened last year)
are showing new work in and around the museum this month.
Talks and Demonstrations Thursdays at 7.30pm. Free. A series of talks have been organised around this sculptural time. 9 Feb— Scul?ture with George Wyllie. the maker of the Straw Locomotive. (He is a wonderfully entertaining speaker — go along); 16 Feb — Demonstration of modelling a portrait by Vincent Butler; 23 Feb— Sculpture around Glasgow by Hugh Stevenson of the Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries.
I THIRD EYE CENTRE 350 Sauchiehall
TAKINGALINE
Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove, Glasgow.
Uncertain little lithographs of seaside towns begin this exhibition and began Stanley William Hayter's lifelong fascination with printmaking. Even in the first, clumsy lithos of the 1920s, Hayter’s wish to push the medium to its limits is apparent.
The Kelvingrove Gallery gives over both halves of its gloomy upstairs landing to Hayter's work which falls into two main sections: his surrealist engravings of the 30s and 40s when he established his studio Atelier 17 in Paris and New York, and worked with the big names, Picasso, Miro, Dali, Chagall, Le Corbusier; and his later experiments with colour printing techniques.
Echoes of Picasso and Miro sound clearly in the looping lines of Hayter’s surreal images. Instead of flat surfaces his small, monochrome etchings suggest depth through the criss-cross of innumerable lines of different strengths. His striving to reproduce on paper the three dimensions of the engraved metal plate, result in a barrage of techniques: the notes for ‘Combat' (1936), a whirlwind of clashing figures, lists ‘engraving (and scorper), soft-ground etching with texture, and burnisher’. The most striking stylistic device is the raised white line, like a thin ooze of giacé icing pumped through a nozzle, which wriggles into many of his works. Some seem entirely abstract, but in others, a swelling contour echoes the soft curve of arm or hip wound around with a skein of fine lines.
The colour comes as a revelation: soft, surprising shades are spattered across the paper or, in the later works, melt into each other between interlocking lines. Throughout the 60s and 703 liayter's prints are concerned with reproducing the movement of water and the play of light. Titles like ‘Dnde Verte' and “Gulf Stream' label these gloriously coloured abstracts. More Immediately attractive than the early engravings, their slick, new techniques make it more difficult to appreciate the human hand in their creation. (Julie Morrice)
48 The List 10- 23 February